Analysis Of Two Kinds By Amy Tan

Ng-Chan begins to notice the growing intimacy between her father and her half sister, who represents an invasion of the relationship between her father and herself. Consequently, Ng-Chan, who has always considered herself an “only child,” displays jealousy. Her bitterness is compared to “the taste of something sharp and grey...like a tiny piece of rock…[she can] break her teeth on” if she is not careful. Thus, “somewhere along the way, [she stops] looking forward to Saturdays.” This results in a deviation in her perspective: an experience that was once enjoyable is no longer worthwhile. These changes, however, remain unnoticed by her father because she is reluctant to assert her feelings, unwilling to potentially harm their relationship. This is evident when she feels “sad about … how [her father’s] face changed” after she has expressed her unwillingness to go out with him. For this reason, she seems “go into an automatic cheer whenever [she] sees him,” and their “Saturday rituals [continue]... until the time she leaves for university.” The father’s ignorance about the transformations in her daughter’s attitude, coupled with the daughter’s inability to express her feelings, results in in an awkward deadlock in their relationship whereby neither of them can express an incentive to find a

This type of upbringing would lead one to believe that her life would not amount to anything and torn by the fact that she was not residing with her family. However, subconsciously, when she needed reassurance, her paternal mother’s words to her would always surface in her mind, “Sunshine, you’re my baby and I’m your only mother, but you must obey the one taking care of you but she is not your mama”.

In the short story “Two Kinds”, Amy Tan uses the narrator’s point of view to share a mother's attempt to control her daughter's dreams and ambitions. Tan`s short story is an example of how differing personalities cause struggles between a parent and child. Children often fall victim to a parent trying too hard or expectations being too high, and in the case of "Two Kinds," we see Jing Mei’s mother trying to live her life through that of Jing Mei. The outcome of her mother’s actions soon leads the narrator into feeling tension within herself, and between herself and her mother.

The daughter did not like the idea of playing the piano. “Why don’t you like me the way I am? . . . I am not a genius! I can’t play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go on TV if you paid me a million dollars!” (492-493). Here, Tan is conveying the fact that parents and children have disagreements on what the child should do, and who the child is to become. For example, parents may have an idea where they want their child to attend their college education. The child, on the other hand, may want to go to a different college as suggested. Ultimately, it is the decision of the child. We cannot live how others want us to live. It is the path of our own making that truly makes us happy.

The daughter is bored with her mother's dreams and lets her pride take over. She often questions her self-worth, and she decides that she respects herself as nothing more than the normal girl that she is and always will be. Her mother is trying to mold her into something that she can never be, she believes, and only by her futile attempts to rebel can she hold on to the respect that she has for herself. The daughter is motivated only to fail so that she may continue on her quest to be normal. Her only motivation for success derives from her own vanity; although she cannot admit it to herself or her mother, she wants the audience to see her as that something that she is not, that same something that her mother hopes she could be.

The article, the book, and I, talk about how daughters feel their mothers don’t know them and that they don’t know their mothers. They talk about how a daughter listens to her mother, but there is a certain point in a young woman 's mind where they decide they want to see and explore new ideas. In conclusion, they all talk about the point in a daughter 's life where she and her mother don’t get along very well and the daughter tries to take charge of her life.

Our native instinct as children is that we want to be our own unique independent person, no matter who gets in our way, not even our parents. Parents and children fight over what the children want to do in life all the time. “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan is a short story where a young girl’s feelings change over time with her mother. The daughter, Jing-mei, is being forced by her mother to become a prodigy. Jing-mei does not think she can become a prodigy, creating a conflict in the relationship with her and her mother. After a thorough analysis of the story, the reader understands how Jing-mei’s feelings towards her mother changed, why her feelings changed, and how those changed feelings affected the

Her husband refuses to believe that she has rebelled against him without Nagib's influence. She responds to this by asking "Was it Nagib who gave birth to me or I to him?"(95) It was with difficulty but her husband accepts his new wife. This empowers the mother to begin school, cut her hair, smoke, even learn to

As an adult, Jing-mei’s mother offers her the piano once more, and Jing-mei accepts the gift. Appreciating the encouragement and faith her mother bestows upon her Jing-mei decides to care for the piano. The piano piece

page three her mother slapped her and accused her of being ungrateful. In addition as her piano

This passage takes place in San Francisco, where a young girl lives with her mother and father . This small family lives in an apartment complex, somewhere in Chinatown. Jing-Mei the young daughter of chinese immigrants is put under pressure by her mother , who has high expectations for her. In the beginning of this story Ni-kann, which is the young girl’s nickname goes along with her mother's expectations for her . Ni-kann’s mother tries to make her become the next prodigy of their time, making her do a series of events such as trying to revise the bible from memory, being the next shirley temple , and knowing every U.S state capital.

Pulling a child off the path of their dream can cause them to rebel. Rebellious children can be almost impossible to deal with. Jing Mei’s mother decides Jing Mei will take piano lessons and makes arrangements with a retired piano teacher named Mr. Chong exchanging housecleaning services for weekly lessons. Jing Mei shows a lot of anger when her mother tells her of the lessons. “Why don’t you like me the way I am? I’m Not a genius! I can’t play the piano. And even if I could, I wouldn’t go on TV is you paid me a million dollars!” (32) Jing Mei takes the lessons and after a year of daydreaming during practice

In the book Chinese Cinderella it is apparent that Niang has had a positive and also a negative impact on Yen Mah. In the book Chinese Cinderella Niang makes the narrator feel a mixture of negative emotions such as neglect, foreignness, and also a feeling no one should feel, insignificance and humiliation. This is shown when the narrator writes “Niang predicted a hopeless future for me.” (Page 124). This had a very pronounced effect on Yen Mah. Therefore as a result of Niang suppressing her, the narrator was able to aim for something greater and also bring recognition to herself. Niang also affected the narrator’s mental stand point because Yen Mah was treated as a servant when compared to Niang’s own children. In which the way Adeline Yen Mah was treated was very immoral because it gave Yen Mah the feeling of being not as wanted as Niang’s own children. If Niang did not treat the narrator the way she did Adeline Yen Mah may not be the person she is – one that aspires to succeed and also one that sees something beyond her circumstances. In Chinese Cinderella,

Jing-mei’s inability to connect with her mother arises from her upbringing. Mrs. Woo pushed Jing-mei to extremes with her parenting and failed to realize the lasting trauma it had on her daughter. Jing-mei as a fragile child wants nothing more than for her “mother and father [to] adore [her]” (233). The developing girl is looking for acceptance through her parents, but Mrs. Woo does not understand the positive reinforcement required in those early stages of development. Instead

The resentment within the young girl’s family is essential to the novel because one can understand the young girl better as she makes her decision.